Police called in to vegan restaurant opening

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I absolutely LOVE this guest post from Joe. Nothing says the ‘rise of veganism’ quite like police having to be called in to calm crowds at a vegan restaurant opening!

Post by Joe:

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PR + FREE FOOD = PANDEMONIUM

After lots of promotion and press, plus an offer of free food on their opening night, the people behind new Berlin vegan burger joint Dandy Diner were always going to have their hands full. Though whether they expected to be so inundated that the police had to attend in order to manage the crowds, I don’t know.

Either way, it’s made the headlines today.

The Berliner Zeitung says: “Too full! Police break up opening party at the ‘Dandy Diner’. Pushing, shoving, and a long queue outside … by 10pm (just two hours after opening) they were already out of sauce. The police had to break up the party, as too many people were outside blocking the street.”

RBB-Berlin says: “Police had to curb the onslaught at Vegan snack bar. Around 300 people were inside, hoping to get hold of some food without meat or other animal ingredients. Shortly after 9pm there were so many people outside, that officers intervened, after consulting with the owners of the snack bar. Those outside were asked to leave.”

N-TV says: “Police disperse vegan opening party. When two fashion bloggers opened their first vegan snack bar, the people of Berlin weren’t slow to arrive. Hundreds of people appeared at the opening party, and when the rush became too large, police had to intervene”

Craziness at @dandydiner #BERLIN

A photo posted by becca (@beccacrawford) on

You can follow Dandy Diner over on Instagram.

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Exclusive 100% vegan tearoom opens in London

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The breakneck speed with which London’s vegan scene is expanding leaves me breathless. Or maybe that’s due to the building in my lift being broken meaning I had to take the stairs.

Regardless, London is booming when it comes to plant-based cuisine and bhuti is front and centre of the surge.

There is so much to tell you about bhuti. Situated in the West London neighbourhood of Richmond, bhuti bills itself as a centre of well-being and offers a huge range of beauty and relaxation therapies. It is home to ongoing yoga and pilates classes, as well as nutrition workshops.

Like many similar places, the treatments  are certainly not inexpensive but I assume the prices are well within the range of what people pay for this type of thing in Richmond.

Not interested in a vitamin C facial or full body ‘5 element’ massage? Well maybe the in-house vegan tearoom will get you heading west.

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The menu actually extends far past what you would expect from a tearoom. The fully vegan, organic, gluten-free, refined sugar-free and mostly raw menu includes a whole variety of snacks, drinks and dishes and even though bhuti only opened recently, they already have plans to expand the tearoom.

The menu is designed by head chef Eli who has been vegan for years and has moved over to bhuti from RAW at La Suite West. Eli is serving up raw cakes, buckwheat toast with toppings, chia pudding, breakfast smoothies, hot soup, nori rolls and tea infusions just to name a small selection.

Find out everything you need to know about bhuti on their website and take a moment to follow them on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

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Vegan pizza in a Sheffield pub

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Did you know there is a pub and live music venue in Sheffield that is now serving vegan pizza and vegan real ale?

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I was contacted by Dave from fab vegan food provider Make No Bones as he wanted to let me know that he has taken over The Cremorne, a drinking establishment in Sheffield that also doubles as a live music venue.

Dave was thrilled to tell me he is now serving decadent vegan pizzas in the pub, as well as vegan real ale.

In other good news, Dave has plans to turn the entire pub vegan by the end of the year. Let’s hope he can pull that huge feat off. Make sure you pop in for a pizza and a pint soon and let Dave know what a bang up job he is doing in raising the profile of vegan food in Sheffield.

Follow The Cremorne on Facebook to see photos of tasty pizzas and to keep updated on the pub’s vegan transformation.

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FGV is nominated

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If you like and appreciate what I do here on my blog, you can vote for me in the VegNews Bloggy Awards 2016.

Readers get to choose their five favourite vegan blogs with the winners being featured in a future issue of VegNews.

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Click here to vote now.

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Vegan pub food by the seaside

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Fancy a trip to the seaside but worried about finding vegan food to devour?

The answer is The Railway Hotel in Southend-on-Sea.

I have been hearing excited chatter about The Railway Hotel for a couple of years, but it was only today that I visited their website to see what they had on offer for plant-based pub-goers.

Check out this amazing list of vegan dishes lifted from their Spring 2016 menu:

Mains

  • Handmade pizza/calzones
  • Crass Burger (mixed bean/veg) with Chips/Wedges and salad
  • Falafel wrap + Sundried & Peppers + Chips/Wedges & Salad
  • Wild Mushroom Risotto with Truffle Oil
  • Aromatic Thai Tofu Curry with sticky Rice
  • “Ham”, Leak & Cheese Pie with Mash, Root Veg & Gravy
  • “Fish” & Chips with Pea Puree & Tartare Sauce

Sides

  • Olives
  • Coleslaw
  • Bowl of Homemade Chips and dips
  • Garlic Bread
  • Wedges with Chilli Dip
  • Dough Balls with Garlic Mayo

Desserts

  • Pear and Apricot Cheese Cake
  • Apple Tart
  • Chocolate Calzone

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The vegan choices make up about 99% of the menu, so it would be fantastic to see the hotel take that last little leap to having a completely plant-based menu.

Everything sounds scrumptious and I think I will have to make this place one of my first stops when I get back to the UK later in the year.

You can get directions to The Railway Hotel on their website and you can follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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Daiya spreads

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This post began life as a way for me to brag about all the awesome Daiya products I have been buying and consuming in Mexico City, but then I thought that was a bit cruel. I’m not just here to tease, I’m here to inform and tease.

First up, the teasing.

Check out these incredible products that have been in my fridge and my belly recently.

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Good for me, right?! But what about readers in the UK?

I reached out to Daiya to discover if the company EVER plans on launching any of their glorious food in the UK and I got a fairly hopeful response.

Representatives from the company are taking meetings with distributors in the UK this month (April 2016) and are working on having some of the Daiya cheese products in shops as soon as possible.

Keep your vegan fingers crossed and get over to Twitter to tell Daiya how excited you are that they are working on UK distribution.

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Tennis superstar opens vegan restaurant in Monte Carlo

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This is a piece of news I would never have predicted.

Superstar tennis player Novak Djokovic and his wife Jelena have opened a vegan eatery in the impossibly swanky Monte Carlo, Monaco.

There isn’t a lot of information floating around at the moment about Eqvita, but the restaurant’s Facebook page lists the type of cuisine served as ‘vegan’ and also contains this brief description:

Eqvita was created out of love, gratitude and deep esteem towards the nature, its effects on human body and mind, and the way they flawlessly interconnect to create a healthy, happy person we can all be. It was this holistic philosophy of well being that lit the way to our main thought: let’s have a place like no other!

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Going by what I can see on the restaurant’s social media platforms, both Novak and Jelena Djokovic welcomed their friends and family to an exclusive opening of their new vegan eatery a few nights ago.

A photo posted by Eqvita (@eqvita) on

You can keep updated with developments via the Eqvita Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.

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UK village gets a vegan fair!

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Thinking of hosting a vegan festival or fair in your town but unsure of getting a good number of people along?

The UK village of Lyndhurst  in Hampshire is making sure you have no excuse. If they can do it in a village with a population of between 3,000 and 4,000 people, anyone can do it anywhere.

If you are anywhere near Hampshire and the New Forest on April 30, 2016, make sure you get along to support this wonderful initiative being undertaken by Dorset Vegan and New Forest Vegans .

There will be approximately 40 stalls and plenty of delicious vegan food to consume at the first ever New Forest Vegan Fair. It is the perfect place to drag non-vegan friends along to and there will be lots of persuasive and informative fact sheets for you to slip into their bags.

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The cost of entering is just £3 but if you are under 14 and are hanging out with an adult, you get in for free. Do show up early on the day. I know I said it is hosted in a village, but thousands of people will be coming from all over the region.

Click here to RSVP to the New Forest Vegan Fair 2016. Let them know you are coming!

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London vegetarian burger stand turning vegan!

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This is fantastic news.

You might very well have heard of a meat free burger business called The Veggie Table. This well-known fast cuisine trader has been selling its food at Borough Market for 10 years.

But there are some big changes on the horizon.

The Veggie Table is changing its name to Big V. Why the change? Big V is going to be a 100% vegan food stand.

Everyone at The Veggie Table is vegan. All the cooks, all the servers and even their promotional people are plant-based so they felt it was time to start trading by their principles. The final non-vegan holdout is a Halloumi burger which is set to be phased out as the vegan makeover takes hold.

Make sure you get down to The Veggie Table/Big V to congratulate them on deciding to make the switch to 100% cruelty-free.

If you make your visit coincide with St. George’s Day on April 24, 2016, you will witness the food stand serving their regular ‘V dog sausage’ as a ‘Sausage Sarnie’ and ‘Facon Butties’. That sounds like food heaven to my ears.

Follow Big V on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram before you check out these photos of their tasty burgers below.

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Best vegan Sunday roast in the UK?

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I think my buddy Kay likes to tease me.

There I was minding my own business in Mexico, considering what I should put on my tortillas for Sunday brunch, when Kay taunts me with a photo of one of the best vegan Sunday lunches I’ve ever seen.

Check it out.

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For those of you unfamiliar with a Sunday roast in the UK, this one appears to have all the crucial elements. Right down to a Yorkshire pudding!

Get along to Loving Hut in Brighton so you can let me know if this is the best vegan Sunday roast in the country.

You can find the location of Loving Hut Brighton on their website.

Extra note: Londoners can check out this Sunday roast option while people in Leeds might want to try this.

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